> I know this comes down to institutional incompetency "Incompetency" is an interesting word. The old maxim about incompetence versus malice suggests a binary

> I know this comes down to institutional incompetency "Incompetency" is an interesting word. The old maxim about incompetence versus malice suggests a binary choice. I prefer the more nuanced take that there is a spectrum of positions between the two, and other dimensions that describe a cluster of intents, both conscious and unconscious. Take the UK Post Office scandal where we see incompetence layered on top of malice, layered on top on incompetence. In some organisations obviously deliberately harmful positions are written into "policy". Often this comes under "PR" [fn:1]. More and more "AI" will be used to disguise malintent and deflect scrutiny. In the final episode of the ITV dramatisation [0], Alan Bates (played by Toby Jones) delivers an absolutely shocking, knock down line. When talking about incompetence and evil he says: "They're the same thing" At some point there is no difference between incompetence and evil. For a deeper psychological discussion of that listen here [1]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Bates_vs_The_Post_Office https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Bates_vs_The_Post_Office [1] https://cybershow.uk/episodes.php?id=23 https://cybershow.uk/episodes.php?id=23 (from 39:20) [fn:1] Edward Bernays seminal definition of public relations outlines a creed of deception, manipulation and disinformation which is antithetical to security [2]. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Relations_(book) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Relations_(book)